Thursday 10 June 2021
The deadline has been extended to 1st July 2021 for the pilot of a new economic activity return that seeks to collect specific information on economic activity in Guernsey and Alderney. The information will be used primarily to improve the accuracy of the Gross Value Added (GVA) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures and forecasts that are published by the States of Guernsey and used in various ways. While not compulsory this year, you are strongly encouraged to submit a return (and feedback on the return form and submission process) if you are a sole-trader or you are the representative of an organisation that operates in Guernsey or Alderney. Returns will become mandatory for all organisations meeting threshold criteria in 2022, so the deadline has been extended to enable more people to take part in the pilot.
GVA is one of the main measures used to determine the value generated by each sector of Guernsey's economy in any particular year. It is used by the States of Guernsey to guide how much money should be invested in public infrastructure or donated to overseas aid, for example. It will also be used by policy makers in monitoring and supporting Guernsey's economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic, helping to identify areas of both strength and weakness in the economy so we can target resources effectively.
More information about the pilot and how to access online and paper copies of the return form can be found here https://gov.gg/economicactivityreturn.
Colin Vaudin, Strategic Lead for Digital, Communications and Transformation said
"I would like to stress how important it is for organisations operating in the Bailiwick to take part in this pilot. Accurate GVA and GDP statistics are needed, alongside social and environmental indicators, to inform government during the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Without a good level of responses from organisations based in the Bailiwick we will not be able to publish first estimates of GVA and GDP for 2020 until next year. Also, we wish to ensure the smallest amount of red tape for organisations and so we need to know if the questions posed in the return are right, as it will become mandatory for some organisations to complete it in 2022 under the Economic Statistics (Guernsey and Alderney) Law 2019.
The data needed includes turnover and costs, which we hope can easily be sourced from year-end accounts. The return should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete, once you have this information to hand. The data you supply will be strictly confidential to officers in the Data & Analysis Service and will only be used to produce economic statistics."
Following the States meeting on 27th October 2015 (item relating to standardising measurement of GDP), the Economic Statistics (Guernsey and Alderney) Law 2019 was drafted. This Law enables the States of Guernsey to require information that is needed to calculate GVA, GDP and other economic statistics, such as median earnings. However, to ensure proportionality, the information is being asked for on a voluntary basis to start with. This will inform thresholds, for example individuals and organisations with 30 or more employees and/or an annual turnover in excess of £1 million could be required to complete a refined version of the return in future years, although others will be welcome to make a voluntary return also.
